OFW-Friendly Countries Identified by POEA
May 30, 2011
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) comes up with a list of countries considered to be an ideal destination for overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) because they seem to be cooperative when it comes to concerns of Filipino workers.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) comes up with a list of countries considered to be an ideal destination for overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) because they seem to be cooperative when it comes to concerns of Filipino workers.
In the POEA resolution, POEA identified 76 OFW-friendly countries. Of the 76 countries, the majority comes from Europe with 32 countries, followed by 21 countries in Americas. Meanwhile, there are 17 countries from the Asia Pacific region, 4 countries in Africa and only two countries are from the Middle East.
The countries were identified on the basis that they meet at least one of three requirements provided for in the revised Migrant Workers Act or the Republic Act 10022.
The new Migrant Workers Acts states that the Philippines will only allow deployment if the host country fulfills the following:
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Has existing labor and social laws protecting the rights of workers;
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Is a signatory to and/or a ratifier of multilateral conventions, declarations or resolutions relating to the protection of workers; and
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Has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government on the protection of the rights of OFWs.
List of Countries Identified by POEA to be OFW-Friendly
- Albania
- Angola
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Canada
- Chile
- Columbia
- Costa Rica
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Ecuador
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Kenya
- Laos
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxemburg
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mexico
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- New Zealand
- Northern Marianas
- Oman
- Palau
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- San Marino
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- The Netherlands
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Two Middle Eastern countries; Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) that are both consistent top OFW destinations are not included in the list.
The POEA clarified that deployment of OFWs in countries that are not in the above list will not be stopped but will be continuously reviewed and evaluated.
The POEA resolution said, “In the meantime, the deployment of OFWs to these countries [not included in the list] shall continue except, where deployment bans is in effect."
